This Is For You Cal; We’ll Take Pastner!
Posted by BMack on April 7th, 2009 filed in Memphis TigersComment now »
Thanks Daff!
Projecting the Field
Posted by BMack on March 14th, 2009 filed in ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Memphis Tigers, NCAA Basketball, NCAA Tournament, Pac 10, SECComment now »
We thought we would take a stab at projecting the field, just to see how we do.
Breakdown
ACC (8)
A-10 (2)
Big East (7)
Big 10 (7)
Big 12 (6)
Pac 10 (5)
SEC (3)
Conference USA (1)
WCC (2)
MVC (2)
MWC (2)
Automatic Bids
Louisville
Memphis
Missouri
USC
Gonzaga
Temple
Utah
Utah State
Akron
Alabama State
American
Binghamton
Morgan State
Siena
Cleveland State
Cornell
Western Kentucky
North Dakota State
Virginia Commonwealth
Chattanooga
Radford
Portland State
Morehead State
Robert Morris
East Tennessee State
Northern Iowa
Mississippi State
Purdue
CS Northridge
Stephen F Austin
Duke
At-large
North Carolina
Wake Forest
Florida State
Maryland
Clemson
Virginia Tech
Boston College
Pitt
UConn
Villanova
Syracuse
Marquette
West Virginia
Illinois
Michigan
Michigan State
Ohio State
Wisconsin
Minnesota
St. Mary’s
LSU
Tennessee
Xavier
Butler
Kansas
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Texas
Texas A&M
UCLA
California
Washington
Arizona State
BYU
JUST MISSED OUT
Dayton - Lost their spot when they lost to Duquesne
Miami - Lost their spot to VT when they lost to VT.
Arizona - Lost their spot to USC (more or less)
Creighton - Would have fared better if they hadn’t been blown out by Illinois State; Replaced by St Mary’s
San Diego State- Probably needed to win their conference tourney championship.
New Mexico - Needed to win at least one game in their conference tourney
UNLV - Needed to win at least one game in their conference tourney.
Auburn - Needed to beat Tennessee today to have a shot.
South Carolina - They’ve always played well in the NIT.
Kentucky- Needed to win the SEC tourney.
Florida - Probably needed to win the SEC tourney, at least needed a championship game appearance.
Penn State - Too many teams that weren’t supposed to win their conference tourney game did and it’s going to hurt the Nittany Lions’ chances.
Is there really a debate about Memphis being a 1 seed?
Posted by BMack on March 14th, 2009 filed in Memphis Tigers, NCAA Basketball, NCAA Tournament1 Comment »
“Losing one game in a conference tournament shouldn’t make that big of a difference in the grand scheme of things.”
I’ve heard that so many times this weekend that I’m sick of it. I’m mainly sick of it because it only applies to teams in the ACC and Big East. It doesn’t apply to Memphis. Memphis’s success in their conference has hurt them more than anything. They are not allowed to lose anymore. If Memphis would have lost a conference tournament game, they would have fallen to a 4 seed faster than the stock market.
Going into the conference tournaments, North Carolina, Pitt, UConn, Louisville, Memphis, Oklahoma and Michigan State were all mentioned as possible 1 seeds. North Carolina lost. Pitt lost. UConn lost. Oklahoma lost. Michigan State lost. Louisville is still playing and Memphis has already won their conference tournament. Today, I started hearing Duke mentioned as a 1 seed. Winning the ACC tournament is impressive, but if you are Duke, it’s not as impressive if you don’t have to go through North Carolina. Almost like Louisville having a chance to win the Big East tournament without having to play UConn or Pitt.
Kinda hard to deny Memphis a 1 seed now, huh?
My 1’s: North Carolina, Pitt, Louisville and Memphis
My 2’s: UConn, Michigan State, Oklahoma and Duke
Who Dunnit?
Posted by BMack on March 13th, 2009 filed in Memphis Grizzlies, NBAComment now »
The news broke yesterday that an unnamed Memphis Grizzlies basketball player has been accused of sexual assault by a Philadelphia woman. The Grizzlies are aware of the reports, but refuse to release the name of the player. For the most part, the Grizzlies have been one of the most well-behaved organizations in sports. That’s the only thing they have going for them. We know this isn’t a situation to take lightly, but after what the Grizzlies have put us through this year, we needed something to blog about. Robbie came up with the idea to hold a draft to select the Grizzlies player who is most likely guilty of the sexual assault. I won the lottery so I got first pick.
Loser buys the Milky Way.
Round 1
Brad - Kyle Lowry: He was born in Philly. He went to college in Philly. He wasn’t listed in the box score on that fateful night so he must have been out on the town.
Robbie - Rudy Gay: He’s got that disgusted look on his face all the time, kinda smug, not the golden boy for the team anymore, he’s second fiddle now. He had to take it out on someone.
Round 2
Brad - Darius Miles
Robbie - Quinton Ross
Round 3
Brad - Darrell Arthur
Robbie - Hakim Warrick
Round 4
Brad - Darko Milicic
Robbie - Greg Buckner
Round 5
Brad - O.J. Mayo
Robbie - Mike Conley
Round 6
Brad - Marc Gasol
Robbie - Marko Jaric, Hamed Haddadi
UPDATE!
SI is reporting that the player is question in Marco Jaric! Winner = Robbie… Going deep into the 6 round and strikes gold doing it!
It’s March…
Posted by BMack on March 10th, 2009 filed in ACC, Bets, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, NCAA Basketball, NCAA Tournament, Pac 10, SECComment now »
…so it’s time for our conference tournament picks!
Brad
A-10 - Xavier
ACC - North Carolina
Big 10 - Michigan State
Big 12 - Oklahoma
Big East - Pittsburgh
C-USA - Memphis
Mountain West - BYU
PAC 10 - UCLA
SEC - Florida
Robbie
A-10 - Xavier
ACC - North Carolina
Big 10 - Michigan State
Big 12 - Kansas
Big East - Louisville
C-USA - Memphis
Mountain West - Utah
PAC 10 - Washington
SEC - LSU
The bet: a Milky Way
Will T.O. Fit With Your Team?
Posted by BMack on March 5th, 2009 filed in NFLComment now »
The Dallas Cowboys released Terrell Owens late last night. The 35-year old wide receiver will be looking for a new team soon. Some teams have already spent their money in free agency, others haven’t. Where would T.O. fit the best? We will go ahead and rule out the Cowboys and the Eagles.
49ers - This is a possibility because they could use some help, but we don’t think he would get along well with Mike Singletary.
Bears - They are still inconsistent at QB, but T.O. would certainly be an upgrade over Rashied Davis and Brandon Lloyd.
Bengals - He couldn’t play with Chad Johnson, and besides, they just paid Laveranues Coles $28 million to replace T.J. Houshmandzadeh.
Bills - He would fit nicely across from Lee Evans, but the Bills won’t spend the money.
Broncos - Randy Moss worked out pretty well in the Patriots system, maybe T.O. can do the same under new head coach Josh McDaniels.
Browns - With a new head coach and a young QB there’s not a chance.
Buccaneers - They could use a WR, but we say it’s not going to be T.O. for two reasons. 1) The new head coach and 2) Their recent fire sale included everyone on that team over 30 years old.
Cardinals - They had three 1,000 yard receivers last season…they are set.
Chargers - Philip Rivers doesn’t seem like someone who would put up with T.O.’s complaining.
Chiefs - T.O., Tony Gonzalez, Dwayne Bowe and Matt Cassel sounds great on paper, but T.O.’s attitude would be detrimental to this young team.
Colts - Manning is one of two QBs that could keep him in line, and it could happen if not for his age. They just released Marvin Harrison, who is a year older than T.O.
Dolphins - Like a lot of teams, the fish could use a play-maker like T.O., but after their time together in Dallas, we don’t see Parcells giving the green light.
Falcons - No. Roddy White is coming along nicely and they are another team with a young QB.
Giants - In our opinion, they should forget about Plaxico Burress and move on. They need a big WR for their offense and they’ve already missed out on Housh; they shouldn’t miss out on T.O.
Jaguars - Yes. We think this would work. The Jags have tried just about everything at the WR position and have never been able to find THE GUY.
Jets - No. The Jets and their new head coach, Rex Ryan, are looking to establish their identity. With the acquistions of Bart Scott and Lito Sheppard, it looks like they are going to model themselves after the Ravens.
Lions - No. After their 0-16 season, they are starting from scratch and a 35-year old WR doesn’t exactly fit the blueprint.
Packers - We don’t see it happening for a couple of reasons. They already have a solid core of young WRs and a veteran presence in Donald Driver. And they don’t really have a problem moving the ball through the air.
Panthers - This might be a good fit. They already have a head coach that refuses to put up with crap. They have a veteran QB and a great running game. Pairing T.O. with Smith and moving Mushin Muhammad to the slot could get them back to the Super Bowl.
Patriots - No for one simple reason, he doesn’t get along with Randy Moss.
Raiders - Eh…Al Davis would love to have T.O., but would T.O. love to have Al Davis?
Rams - Torry Holt wants out and that could open the door for the Rams to sign T.O. The only possible problem? The Rams aren’t exactly in a win-now situation. Then again, the NFC West is wide open every year.
Ravens - He would make this team even older than they already are, but he would make Joe Flacco’s job a little easier. He might be exactly what they need to get past the Steelers.
Redskins - We know that Dan Snyder enjoys spending money so you can’t rule this out.
Saints - Drew Brees throws the ball all over the place, heck, he made Lance Moore look like a quality redzone WR. Marques Colston could use the help for the few remaining years that T.O. has in him.
Seahawks - They have had all kinds of issues at WR over the past couple of years. They hope to have addressed that with the signing of T.J. Houshmandzadeh. We say they are better off going with Michael Crabtree in the draft to stay younger at WR.
Steelers - Why mess with what they have going for them?
Texans - They already have a pretty solid one-two punch and they are young.
Titans - They haven’t had a real wide receiver since Derrick Mason. This could be the break the Titans have needed.
Vikings - We say no even though, athletically, he would be a great addition. However, with the Vikings being so run-oriented, it would only be a matter of time before he started complaining even if they were winning.
Stat of the Day!
Posted by Robbie on February 27th, 2009 filed in UncategorizedComment now »
We all know that Tiger Woods had a forgettable second round in match play, losing to Tim Clark 4-2 on Thursday.
I was listening to the 2 Live Stews a minute ago and they talked to a journalist who is covering the WGC Match Play Tournament. He told the Stews that during Tigers return Wednesday the hotdog guy at the event sold 2500 hotdogs. During Tigers second and final day the hotdog guy sold 2500 more hotdogs. During the third day the hotdog guy only cooked 250 hotdogs.
Tiger affects golf that much…. all the way down to the hotdog guy!!
And that is you Stat of the Day.
NFL Free Agent Bonanza
Posted by BMack on February 27th, 2009 filed in NFLComment now »
The Washington Redskins have signed Albert Haynesworth to a 7 year/$100 million deal.
I hope Albert enjoys his money because he isn’t going to win a thing in Washington. He joined the worst team in arguably the best division in the NFL. I hope the Redskins enjoying paying a player who hasn’t played a full season, can’t play every down and takes off plays when he is in there…and that’s during a contract year. The Redskins always have one of the best off-seasons and then nothing ever comes of it.
The New England Patriots and Fred Taylor have agreed to a deal.
Taylor gives the Patriots a veteran presence in the backfield alongside Laurence Maroney and others.
Bart Scott agreed to a $40 million deal with the New York Jets.
The Jets and Scott’s agent, Harold Lewis, have agreed in principle to a five-year deal worth $40 million. The deal is awaiting Scott’s OK.
Update: Bart Scott is giving the Ravens a chance to match the deal before he signs with the Jets. The outcome will have a huge impact on what Ray Lewis does.
The Browns trade Kellen Winslow to the Bucs for 2nd and 3rd round draft picks.
I’m not sure what Mangini and the Browns are thinking here. The Bucs just became more attractive.
The Texans trade Sage Rosenfels to the Vikings.
The Vikings got their quarterback. The 31-year old QB agreed to a two-year, $9 million extension with the Vikings. In return, the Texans received a 4th round draft pick.
The Chiefs trade for Mike Vrabel.
Scott Pioli acquired veteran LB Mike Vrabel from his old team for a draft pick.
3 Things
Posted by BMack on February 27th, 2009 filed in MLB, Memphis Grizzlies, Memphis Tigers, NCAA Basketball, NFLComment now »
Either Manny Ramirez or Scott Boras is an idiot. One of them rejected the Dodgers’ latest deal. This one was worth $45 million over two years. For the record, I love how the Dodgers are handling this. In a time where the economy is crap and people are getting laid left and right, the Dodgers are making Manny and Scott Boras look incredibly greedy. I’ve heard 100 times that Manny wants a long-term deal. I ask, what’s wrong with $25 million? That puts him behind only A-Roid on the overpaid highest paid players list. Keep on rejecting these deals, Manny, maybe someone else will come along and offer you the long-term deal you’re wanting. Oh that’s right, no one else is interested!
The Memphis Tigers beat UAB 71-60 last night to clinch their 4th straight C-USA regular season title. The loss was just UAB’s second home loss in the past two seasons (both to Memphis). Tyreke Evans was awful, but so was Derrick Rose last year. Doneal Mack came up big. He hit clutch shots, he played defense, he hawked down loose balls. He was big. Antonio Anderson pretty much wrapped up Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year honors last night. He, along with some help from Mack, held Robert Vaden scoreless. Vaden missed all 17 shots that he took. In fact, Vaden hasn’t hit a shot against the Tigers since the 10:00 mark in the first half of the game at the Forum. That’s 50 minutes.
Bill Simmons took part in something we love to do here, bash the Grizzlies ownership. Here’s the article. Here are a few quotes:
The most important trade for playoff purposes? A seemingly minor three-teamer between Houston (landed Brian Cook and Kyle Lowry), Orlando (landed Rafer Alston) and Memphis (landed a 2009 first-rounder from Orlando). It happened because Memphis is hemorrhaging money and supposedly saved $2 million, even if it meant turning Lowry (who had been outplaying 2008 lottery pick Mike Conley for two solid seasons) into a meaningless pick in one of the worst drafts ever. I’d say the Grizzlies hurled a flaming bag of dog feces at their fans, but they don’t have any fans.
They definitely don’t reflect aggressive giveaways like Chicago’s recent buy-one-get-one-free promotion or Memphis’ Pepsi Family Plan Pack (four tickets, four Pepsis and four hot dogs for $48). When you hear the Grizzlies are averaging 12,600 a game, that’s like Amazon.com bragging, “We sold 12,600 books this week” and glossing over the fact that 65 percent of them were bargain books for $3.99 or less.
Get ‘em Bill.
3 Things
Posted by BMack on February 25th, 2009 filed in UncategorizedComment now »
The honeymoon is over. The Memphis Grizzlies have lost 5 straight games. They are now 4-9 under Lionel Hollins. He is not a miracle worker. Not even Phil Jackson could win with this crap team. They are going to be a crap team until Mike Conley is not part of their “core”. It’s fine if he sticks around as a role player, but until the Grizzlies’ brass stops looking at him as part of the core, this team is going to suck.
At least people in the Grizzlies organization are having fun with this. In the second half of last night’s game against Cleveland, the Grizzlies’ TV announcers resorted to keeping score in the 2nd half to see if the Grizzlies could at least win the 2nd half (while LeBron was parked on the bench). Before it was changed, a headline for last night’s game read this way:
Despite a stellar effort from Hakim Warrick (13 points) and Darrell Arthur (12 points) the Grizzlies could not hold off the Cavaliers in a 94-79 loss on the road Tuesday night.
Ok, first of all, you have to have a lead, preferably late in the game, to “hold off” an opponent. The Grizzlies never led in the game. Second, there is nothing “stellar” about 12 and 13 points.
The economy is going to get better before the Grizzlies do! At least Obama is trying…
For the second time this season, the Pitt Panthers lost immediately after being named the nation’s new #1 team. Last night, they lost 81-73 to the Providence Friars. It seems like no one wants to be #1 this season. Oklahoma has already lost this week, so if UConn beats Marquette tonight, you would think they would take over the top spot again, but do they really want it? Other candidates for the top spot: North Carolina and Memphis
From ESPN.com - NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has taken a 20 percent pay cut and the league staff has been trimmed by 15 percent because of a reeling economy.
The league said Wednesday it has dropped 169 jobs as a result of buyouts, layoffs and other staff reductions. Goodell voluntarily took a cut from the $11 million salary and bonuses he was to receive this past year. He and other league executives are freezing their salaries for 2009.